This archive report was first published on 3 November 2019.
On November 3, 2019, the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed his ongoing opposition to Facebook's Libra digital currency, citing unresolved concerns, including the issue of money laundering.
Despite tighter regulations and increased vigilance by the authorities, illegal activities related to virtual currencies remain significant, according to Madeleine Kennedy from the research firm Chainalysis.
A Chainalysis report published in January 2018 found that one percent of Bitcoin transactions involved illegal activities, with the equivalent of $600 million spent using Bitcoins on the dark web.
However, Kennedy believes the use of Bitcoins for criminal purposes is partly based on a misunderstanding, as the confidentiality reputation of Bitcoin is unrivalled, with all transactions recorded in an unforgeable public ledger, the blockchain.
But if Bitcoin is still the reference currency for criminals because of its popularity, they are turning to less transparent alternatives, such as Monero, which began life in 2014, according to the European law enforcement agency Europol.
Monero's users can remain anonymous until they need to interact with a cryptomarketing platform or invest their funds with a wallet, the equivalent of an account for virtual currencies.
It is a phenomenon that also worries the German finance ministry, which recently published a document warning that anonymous cryptos could become a real alternative to Bitcoin.
